You will not be able to play Unreal Engine 4 games on Wii U

Nintendo thinks the Wii U began the eighth generation of video games hardware; random other people think it’s actually 7th-gen (also known as current-gen for the past seven years). We may be finding out know what the real answer is. First, Frostbite 3 games (including Battlefield 4, Dragon Age 3 and the next Mass Effect) won’t be on Wii U. Next, The Unreal Engine 4 games won’t, either.

At the Epic Games presentation at GDC, Mark Rein was asked straight up if there will be Unreal Engine 4 games on Wii U. He said:

“Hahaha no. I mean, sorry, it’s not really a correct answer. We’re not… we have Unreal Engine 3 for the Wii U. Right? And Unreal Engine 3 is powering all kinds of amazing games, still lots of games are being made with Unreal Engine 3. We announced today about a new Unreal Engine 3 license. Unreal Engine 3 doesn’t disappear because of Unreal Engine 4. But our goal for Unreal Engine 4 console-wise is next-gen consoles. That’s really what our energies are focused on. If you want to make a Wii U game, we have Unreal Engine 3, and it’s powering some of the best games on the Wii U already.”

Well, there is a vote, by somebody that matters, for Wii U being current-gen. Also, this sounds like it could be a big blow to Nintendo down the road as it tries to compete in the AAA core space. That’s a lot of multiplatform titles it will probably miss out on.